Happy Mother's Day!
As you already know if you are a regular reader of the OC Web sites, I just did a major upgrade to my computer, and Deepak's Diatribe a few weeks ago was all about his hardware adventures. That being the case, I thought it was a good time to talk about Windows programs that let you "see" what's in your computer even when the lid is closed and bolted on. Sadly, no one program does it all, but by using a combination of free and free but function limited trialware, you can find out a lot about your computer, or about someone else's computer that you are trying to work on.
Jack and I talked about Windows Batch Files. It was just an introduction and since we haven't really fully covered the command line yet, look for our "Command Line Cool" segment in the near future. It will focus on commands as they are implemented in Windows XP. Remember that almost anything that you can type at a command prompt can be used in a batch file.
Oh, and before I forget -- Jack, I'm so glad to have you back here on Sunday mornings!
This subject seems to keep coming up (pun intended). Yes, the object of our dejection is that sneaky spam that pops up to annoy with a lame and stale assortment of scams, even when you aren't using your browser. Someone was asking about it in OC chat this past week but I was busy doing something else and couldn't get a definitive answer to the chat at the time even though I knew what was happening. So a little late for chat, but here is a link to Mike Healan's SpywareInfo Support Forums - Popup ads from Messenger Service thread that will solve your problems.
By the way, if you haven't visited SpywareInfo, it is on my personal short list of recommended sites. Besides the SpywareInfo Forums, Mike has a weekly newsletter that you can subscribe to or read on the site as desired.
This is another a reprise of something that came up in chat last week. There was quite a bit of concern over the security certificate associated with the clocks on the On Computers home page. From there the general subject of world time was explored and several of us mentioned an old favorite, GeoClock. This program has been around for a long time and I've been a registered owner since 1995. You can download a very functional trial version of GeoClock if you want to see it in action for yourself.
Hey, we all like a freebie from the folks in Redmond. Check out the Windows XP Creativity Fun Pack Downloads.
Cya next time!
Gail
© 2003 Gail Allinson
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